Airline CEO Makes Announcement To Media During Athens Visit This Week

01 Dec 2012

Athens, GREECE – Qatar Airways has announced it will launch direct scheduled flights from Athens to New York from the middle of 2013.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker addresses media during a press briefing in Athens, at which he announced the airline will launch scheduled flights between the Greek capital and New York next year.

Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker made the announcement in Athens on the occasion of the airline's eight-year presence in Greece and to commemorate the carrier’s increasingly strong operations in the country.

While in the Greek capital, Al Baker met with Athens-based media, reinforcing the airline’s commitment to continue growing its operations in Greece. Qatar Airways already flies double daily linking the Greek capital with its operational hub in Doha.

Athens is a key point on the airline's 31-strong European route network, introduced in 2004 initially with six-flights-a-week. The carrier increased capacity to double-daily three years ago.

The Athens route continues to grow with strong demand despite the financial crisis in the country.

Al Baker said: “The Athens – Doha route has become the number one intercontinental destination in absolute number of passengers at Athens International Airport, surpassing for the first time in the airport’s history, New York City.

“And launching this new route from Athens to New York from the middle of next year will provide passengers with an even more unique travel experience, strengthening Qatar Airways’ reputation as the airline of choice for leisure and business travellers.”

In a brief presentation of the airline’s chart to success in just 15 years of operations, Al Baker highlighted the fact that the airline had become a pillar of the State of Qatar’s economic growth thereby spreading the nation’s wings all around the world.

He stated that Qatar Airways will continue to expand its role as a global connector that brings people to the world and the world to people, through an ever expanding network of a young fleet and its award-winning five-star service.

Describing the Athens route as “a combined symbol of a home base and a gateway”, Al Baker stated that the “ties that have been forged between us during these past eight years extend the horizons of a solid and lasting cooperation between Qatar Airways and Greece which are here to stay. And it is here to grow further.”

Qatar Airways currently flies a modern fleet of 114 aircraft to 121 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Notes to Editors

Qatar Airways currently has orders worth over US$50 billion for more than 250 aircraft, including Boeing 787s, 777s, Airbus A350s, A380s and A320 Family of aircraft. In addition to winning Skytrax’s prestigious Airline of the Year 2011 and 2012, Qatar Airways was named Best Airline in the Middle East for the seventh year in a row, and its Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport was named Best Premium Service Airport for the second consecutive year in 2012. Skytrax is the only global independent passenger survey monitoring airline standards and is considered the ultimate benchmark for excellence in the airline industry. In October 2012, Qatar Airways became the first of the major Gulf carriers to officially join a global alliance having been invited into the oneworld group.